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Apple Safari (discontinued)

Apple Safari

Entered CNET Catalog: 03/20/2003

SKU: CNETAPPLESAFARI

Manufacturer: Apple Inc.

Content [Hide]
  1. CNET editors' review
  2. Users' opinions
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CNET editors' review

  • Editors' Choice: No
  • Reviewed on: 06/26/2003
Can Safari fill Internet Explorer's shoes? That's the question on everyone's lips since Microsoft dropped out of the OS X browser arena in June. Apple released Safari 1.0 Beta in January, and is now offering shipping version 1.0, which fixes rendering problems that dogged both betas. The OS X-only browser shares its open-source foundations with Konqueror, a standalone browser and the file manager for the Linux KDE Desktop Environment. Apple says it improved on the tiny Konqueror kernel to meet its goal--the fastest Mac Web browser. We think Safari meets this claim, and in informal testing, it's faster than both Internet Explorer and Camino, the next runner-up in the OS X browser speed race. Safari lacks Camino's palette of preferences and the advanced customization or security features of Internet Explorer for Mac or Opera. Try Safari if you're really sick of Internet Explorer--it's free, after all--but if you're looking for advanced security settings and privacy features, you should hold off or consider Camino. You can update the Safari beta to 1.0 using Mac OS X's Software Update to automatically update. (The beta versions did not have built-in auto-updating.) If you don't already have Safari, it's a 6.2MB download. A drive image automatically mounts on the desktop and launches the Installer program. When you first open the browser, it automatically imports your IE favorites and some settings, including the home page, but Safari also sets itself as your default browser without asking. How rude!



Safari's tidy design makes for maximum Web page viewing.


The browser's spartan toolbar features only forward, back, home, and refresh buttons, as well as a plus-sign button that adds the current URL to your bookmarks or acts as a stop button while a page is loading. Apple integrates a Google search field into the Safari toolbar--a nice feature since Google's own toolbar isn't compatible with IE for Mac--but you can search only Google from that field. We prefer Opera's drop-down menu of search choices. However, Safari's search field does offer a drop-down menu listing recent searches that provides quick access to previous Google search results.

Bookmarks live in the Bookmarks menu, while a select few are in a tiny toolbar below the address bar, and that's all you'll find--Safari really maximizes page real estate. If you add more bookmarks than can fit on the bar, a double arrow appears indicating a pop-up menu for the rest, just like the Finder's toolbar.


Safari's tabbed browsing is a bit different from other browsers.


Safari's best interface feature arrived in Beta 2: tabbed browsing. If you've used the tabs in other browsers (such as Camino or Netscape) or at Apple's own Web site, Safari's tabs may appear to be upside-down and cause some confusion. However, they do let you open multiple Web pages without cluttering your screen, and the tabs automatically adjust in size to accommodate multiple Web sites, and feature handy close-window X's in the corners. There's even a new preference menu just for tabs. To open a new tab, press Command+T (or click File > New Tab), or Command-click to open a link in a tab. Command+W closed the tab. (There are also a series of keyboard commands for opening and selecting a tab, opening a link in a new window and selecting it, or opening a link in a new window behind the current window.) A nice touch that we originally missed: Safari provides a key command for switching between tabs. Press Shift+Command+right arrow (or left arrow), and you can easily navigate back and forth between open tabs.

Apple says Safari's speed is its premier feature, and indeed, this browser offers few additional tools. Most notably, Safari lacks any advanced security settings. You can block third-party cookies and some Web scripts, but you can't, say, enter specific Web sites from which to accept or reject cookies, as you can with both Opera for Mac and IE. You also won't find any controls for passwords, certificate authentication, or encryption (beyond asking for a prompt when you're sending an insecure form). Those are standard security and privacy features in, IE, Camino, Opera, and almost any other browser for Mac or PC.



This little window holds all of Safari's security preferences--and there aren't many.


Safari Beta 2 added an advanced settings toolbar, which gives us hope for the future. For now, though, it lets you only choose a style sheet and change your proxy settings. One thing we're extremely happy to see, though: the preferences menu adds an autofill menu; autofill is a tool that remembers previously typed information, such as your name, address, or address-bar URLs. The autofill tool integrates with Apple's Address Book, not the Keychain password manager.


Safari 1.0 Beta 2 adds an advanced preferences tab, but it's not very filled out. Note the new Tabs and Autofill menus, too.


Safari does, thankfully, include a pop-up blocker that, like all such browser tools, stops ads as well as some legitimate pop-ups (most notably, video pop-ups at CNET News.com). Happily, Safari makes it incredibly easy to toggle the feature on and off; simply press Command+K or click the Safari menu and choose "Block pop-up windows."



Click the plus button to add a bookmark, and this dialog lets you rename a long URL...

...and turn it into something much more manageable.


Possibly Safari's only true innovation is the SnapBack button found in both the address bar and the Google toolbar. When you surf deeply into a Web site or search results, the orange button appears at the right of the search or URL field. Click it, and you'll pop back to the last URL you typed or to your list of Google search results. It's handy but not life-changing; IE lets you click and hold the back button to bring up a short history of visited sites, with much the same effect.



We like the easy drag-and-drop bookmark management, but does it have to be an entire page?


Safari does simplify bookmark management, however. You can drag a bookmark onto the Safari bookmarks bar, as in IE, but Safari lets you rename the Web page so that it's easier for you to remember. The 1.0 version adds syncing of bookmarks between Safari installed on multiple Macs using iSync, handy for PowerBook or iBook users who also have desktop Macs. You can also click the plus button next to the address bar to add a bookmark. A book-shaped button opens a new page where you can easily drag, drop, and rearrange your bookmarks, and even access your address book. Annoyingly, this page always opens over your current Web page. We'd much prefer a bookmarks side bar drawer like that of Camino or OmniWeb or even a new window. As for Apple's claims of cheetah-like speed, we found Safari occasionally blazingly fast but inconsistent. Our informal tests showed that Safari loaded most graphics-heavy pages (such as Apple.com) far more quickly than Internet Explorer for Mac. Safari is also faster than Camino, though by less of a margin. We also found Safari's launch time to be faster than with IE and only slightly faster than Camino (the free version of Opera for Mac forces you to view a start-up dialog, delaying its overall launch time). The browser never crashed in our use and can now render pages that the beta version had trouble with. We also didn't see the stalling of the beta versions. We encountered only minor bugs, usually related to JavaScript errors, though less so than the beta versions. Overall, Safari performed well. Apple doesn't offer free telephone or e-mail support for Safari (not unusual for free and beta software). But you will find an online FAQ and discussion forums at Apple's site (as always, you must endure free registration in order to receive comprehensive online help), and version 1.0 installs nearly five dozen Safari articles in the Mac OS X Help system.

User opinions

Select a User Opinion to view: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 141 142 143 144 145 146 147 148 149 150

User Rating: 2/10

horrible cpu managementby qubits1 - June 19, 2009

Pros: all pages load perfectly

Cons: constantly uses 30% to 50% of the CPU while firefox or chrome on the other hand barely use 15% with the same tabs open.

Review: I wouldn't recommend this browser to anyone using windows. There are much better options available (for e.g. firefox, chrome, opera...)

User Rating: 5/10

It's Okay.by mb00 - June 10, 2009

Pros: It's got a really cool feature that shows your most visted sites (Google Chrome does the same).
It makes your pc screen look bigger when you open it up.

Cons: Not as fast they'd like you to believe.
No customizable toolbar.
Not very user friendly.

Review: It's just okay. I tried it out for about a week. Not very fast. Ended up deleting it. I may try it again if they make it more user friendly.

User Rating: 6/10

Poor reliable, but it looks nice...by feldmandigital - May 30, 2009

Pros: Workable interface, quick access to history

Cons: It lags a lot, freezes on some pages

Review: Not a replacement browser.

User Rating: 10/10

SAFARI IS FAR SUPERIOR TO THE IE BROWSER. IT IS FAST!by MAJESTY1962 - April 12, 2009

Pros: FAST SPEED AND CRASH PROOF BROWSER. HAS ALL THE BASIC FEATURES REQUIRED IN SURFING THE WEB. NICE BROWSER SIMILAR LOOKING TO THE IE BROWSER.

Cons: SOME WEBSITES THAT STREAM VIDEOS ARE NOT COMPATIBLE WITH SAFARI. SO KEEP IE BROWSER FOR THIS EXCEPTION.

Review: IF YOUR TIRED OF YOUR INTERNET EXPLORER BROWSER FREEZING UP OR CRASHING. TRY THE SAFARI BROWSER, IT REALLY KICKS BUTT!

User Rating: 4/10

Not impressed; sticking with chrome and operaby kubuntukonquerer - March 2, 2009

Pros: Post editing features - spell check, "undo" if you erase it all.
Didn't notice major difference in speed with Chrome, good or bad.
Shows quick list of tabs, not just buttons like Chrome.
Built-in RSS reader.

Cons: Scroll wheel doesn't work; have to click and drag
Google toolbar: separate from URL bar, can't seem to remove it or replace it.
Can't customize toolbar - e.g. can't remove bookmarks bar from constant view, etc.
Chrome-like tabs don't work well.

Review: It shows potential, but I don't think it's worth installing at this point. Chrome seems roughly the same speed but is easier to use. Tabs can only be moved by clicking a small triangle; you can't just grab anywhere. I can't seem to create bookmark folders within a larger folder like in Chrome; the bookmark bar in general is a nuisance. On a purely personal note, I dislike how much of a Mac feel it has - the odd status like (forgive, I don't know what it actually is on a Mac) in the top left corner, the 'x' close button on the left end of individual tabs, the bookmark manager looking exactly like iTunes. I imagine you could learn to get around these problems, but it's too much of a hassle for me. I'm sticking with Chrome and Opera.

User Rating: 8/10

Nice theme integrationby MichaelKthx - February 24, 2009

Pros: -It's cool how the tabs blend in with the default luna xp theme
- A 3d frequent sites view

Cons: -No support extensions

Review: Nice browser, but it's always good to keep Mozilla Firefox 3 around.

User Rating: 6/10

It's so unfamiliar it's hard to learn how to navigate.by Annigran - January 6, 2009

Pros: Uncluttered screen. Possible benefits I haven't learned about yet.

Cons: Visually imperfect. I had a window obscured by another window so couldn't write my feed-back message to you yesterday. Complicated person who needs browser and banking security which IE8 doesn't give, but who isn't into downloading music .

Review: My experience is too limited to judge. I haven't discovered limitations yet, and it's all strange and new. I had to abandon Firefox because it's security interfered with certain applications, and I had to be abandoned because my on-line bank doesn't trust it, so I am hoping for perfection. I just want to learn to navigate and find all the facilities I'm used to.

Updated on Jan 6, 2009

Where the hell is the Home button. I cant get out of web-pages!

User Rating: 7/10

Flash Player doesn't load sometimes.by PVTH - January 4, 2009

Pros: Sleek design, minimum clutterness, and fast.

Cons: Lacks advanced security features, crashes sometimes, blogging tools limited.

Review: This is a fast browser indeed. But after a while, it begins to tumble like with Firefox. The Flash player sometimes works and sometimes not. I had to restart the whole browser from the beginning and navigate myself to the site the second time to get it to run. I don't know if anyone noticed this issue, but Apple just sucks.

User Rating: 4/10

Not that great.by clem_cowsie - December 20, 2008

Pros: Sleek design. Uncluttered. Started out pretty fast.

Cons: Slows down after about two hours of use. Somewhat laggy.

Review: I used Safari with Windows XP. At first, when I downloaded it, I was satisfied with the design and speed, but after a while it started getting laggy and was affecting not only itself, but also hindered the opening of new windows (I tried to get Firefox working so that I could stop using such a laggy browser) and iTunes just stopped completely. I tried closing it and force-quitting Safari, but nothing worked and I ended up slamming my laptop shut in frustration. The window was closeable the next day when I turned on my laptop, however.

User Rating: 8/10

Excellent!by warlover - December 7, 2008

Pros: Very fast with the best looking interface I have used yet. 3.2 is the best yet.

Cons: No add-ons. No anti-malware to speak of. The autofill feature is poor at best.

Review: One of the fastest browsers of all time, period.

User Rating: 8/10

Very Fast and Simple Web Browsing Experience.by Strega222 - December 3, 2008

Pros: Very stable and secure web browser, very simple and easy to use gives the page the center of the screen, loads pages very fast, and all at once.

Cons: Very few ad ons but that isn't necessarily a con for me, I like the current look of Safari but I like the old Aqua look of Safari 2 better.

Review: Stability and Durability 4
Ease of Use 5
Speed 4
Features 3
looks 4
Overall a very outstanding browsing experience on the PC and the Mac. Loads pages very fast and I am pleased with how they minimize the amount of buttons and clutter at the top and bottom of the screen. I liked the old Aqua look in Safari 2 better than the current one, but the current one is fine and I think it's okay.

User Rating: 2/10

APPLE SAFARIby teresalynn2 - November 16, 2008

Pros: I LIKED THE TOOLBAR

Cons: IT HAS TROJAN ON IT, IT GAVE MY COMPUTER THREE VIRUSES,SO I HAD TO DELETE IT OFF MY COMPUTER, MY COMPUTER DIDN'T HAVE ANY SPAM OR VIRUSES UNTIL I ADDED THIS PRODUCT, IF ANYONE HAS THIS BROWSER GET RID OF IT NOW

Review: IT HAS TROJANS

User Rating: 4/10

A Poor Web Browser for Windowsby Collin_M - November 1, 2008

Pros: This web browser has one good point: the sheet-metal look that is typical of Apple programs.

Cons: I found this browser to be one of the worst for Windows. It has small browsing space, slow browsing speed, mediocre security, and bad customization.

Review: I found this browser to be one of the worst for Windows; I'm sure it works fine for Apple systems. It has the typical sheet metal interface, which has a cool look but does not at all go along with the rest of Windows. It has probably the smallest browsing space for any browser. I found that browsing speed was slow on the system I was testing (Windows XP). The customization was bad; maybe it works better on an Apple system. Overall, the program I found that has the biggest browsing space is still IE7; Firefox 3 is still slightly smaller. I'm not sure why people would use this browser for Windows; there are many other browsers available, such as IE7, FF3, and Chrome.

User Rating: 10/10

Hits the rest with a huge mallet of Apple brilliance!by Jimmy118118 - October 28, 2008

Pros: It's fast, it's free and it works with windows

Cons: None to report. Awesome software!

Review: GET IT. IT'S SOOOOOO MUCH BETTER THAT ANYTHING ELSE!

User Rating: 6/10

Good browser,but overrated by Cnet,and countless othersby webterractive - October 25, 2008

Pros: Good looking, blends well into OS X, strong performance, standardized.

Cons: Slower then alternatives (Camino, iCab...), Java seems broken after 10.5.2.

Review: A good browser if you don't want to go out and get another one, just like why people still use IE on Windows, when Firefox is better for Windows. But it's just there.

User Rating: 9/10

Just works.by ZephyrVolta - October 12, 2008

Pros: Fast, simple, functional, pretty

Cons: Not for people who want to customize their browser and use a lot of add-ons

Review: Safari is a very fast browser. I can't say it's fastER than any browsers, but it definitely is fast. Everything I want to use is provided, and it is not hampered by excessive tools that I never use. It looks great in my OS X Leopard as well.

Being simple also translates into a con though, depending on the user. It can't compare with most browsers in terms of customizability, so it definitely isn't for everyone.

User Rating: 7/10

Wonderful/Not so goodby DontUseCNETPasswordFinder - September 23, 2008

Pros: Nice Wonder FAST!!

Cons: My Daughter was not able to play a game called " Club Penguin " after a downloaded this!

Review: I think its a fast internet! but for some websites it does not work! :( :)

User Rating: 4/10

Ok at first .........But just wait!!!by Laffctx - September 18, 2008

Pros: Nice and simple. LIked the look.

Cons: Needs addons and if you wait long enough it will start to get buggy on you and even crash. Seems really fast at first and then one day it will bog down and barely run and sites will become way slow.

Review:

User Rating: 4/10

Works good on the Mac; but not the PCby teslook4ITJob - August 28, 2008

Pros: Beautiful graphics and interface

Cons: Does not work well for this PC user

Review: I was thrilled that Apple made Safari for PC users. After I loaded Safari, the browser would crash and I could not go to certain websites. When the websites loaded in Safari, they would not display the javascripts well and the page would show a bunch of errors. After trying Safari for a few days, I uninstalled the program and stick with Firefox. I will not install this browser again until they improve it for PC users.

User Rating: 6/10

Safari frustratingby zigyphoto - August 9, 2008

Pros: elegant interface

Cons: crashes once a day

Review: i thought that an Apple designed browser would function as beautifully as other Apple products, but i was wrong.
the interface design is clean, the bookmarks bar and ability to create a folder on it are easy and intelligent, and the ability to increase font size, clear history and cache easily accessible, but it crashes frequently. oddly enough, there is no warning of an impending crash; Safari just closes. maybe better than the heart-stopping warning issued by IE, but still incredibly frustrating and confusing: what happened? at least there is a mechanism to report problems, and one that i have HOPED actually goes somewhere to be read, rather than into some vague complaint vault. the crashes have no constancy to them; i cannot tell if i have too many windows open, or have run out of system resources, or any other problem. this regular and sudden crashing is the main reason i am getting rid of it.

User Rating: 9/10

Safari on the top listby German_AMB - July 29, 2008

Pros: The stability, security against viruses and spyware

Cons: The complicated menu

Review: Simply GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!! The protection against viruses, spywares, trojans and other infections. The stability during the running of the browser is the best of all the browsers on internet. The easy-to-use environment makes Safari Browser the best option when a secure internet navigation software is required on Mac OS or MS OS.

User Rating: 9/10

awsome awsomeby chargers85 - July 4, 2008

Pros: works good to me

Cons: good good and excellent

Review: works awsome....its what i use

User Rating: 2/10

Shameless Apple Marketing Toolby jim63135 - June 30, 2008

Pros: clean interface

Cons: apple, apple, apple

Review: if you don't mind the shameless display of Apple everywhere but I would never use a product of this type. They block pop ups but use their own advertising everywhere.

User Rating: 9/10

Apple Safari is a successful web browser!by combatientesbarrio - June 30, 2008

Pros: Fast browsing, spell checker, easier bookmarking, tabs, clean interface, Google/Yahoo search built-in, easier to use

Cons: Slower at loading application unlike IE, not compatible with some sites (Microsoft)

Review: Safari has been a great success in web browsing & it's very clean on the interface. It brings flavor to web browsing & is a great RSS reader, better than most web browsers. Safari is a great product like iTunes & Quicktime. It brings back Mac OS X theme to your PC.

User Rating: 7/10

Fast, squeeky clean and with some neat features, Apple Safari is easy to get along with.by deepdreamer.618 - June 25, 2008

Pros: Tidy interface manages bookmarks and tabbed browsing with ease; surprisingly fast, even compared with Opera; easy to use.

Cons: Apple Safari currently lacks some of the most recent innovations in browsing technology.

Review: I have been using this browser on and off recently, mainly to compare it with other browsers. I have noticed that, in terms of speed, Apple Safari is basically without peer. It can be fairly alarming how it exceeds Opera in loading times, especially when the pages are loaded with advertisements (Gamespot.) It's tabbed browsing and bookmark management are also elegantly intuitive. However, there are a couple of issues I have with it. For one thing is the scroll bar, which has come perilously close to driving me insane. On the average website it takes close to three revelations of the mouse wheel to scroll all the way to the bottom. I'm also at odds with it's content blocker. Rather than giving you a flexible service where you can easily target and destroy dissidents, it gives you a service which allows you to disable java . .. like, entirely. Why would they do this? I have no clue. To be honest, these two reasons alone are enough to make me want to avoid this. If you're a Mac user (unlike me,) I'd reccomend two things. If you're looking for more features and security, install a different browser, and change your mouse. Seriously, how are you supposed to use a computer with that clumsy, inaccurate, unergonomic piece of rubbish? Oh wait, are other mouses even compatible with a Mac? Hmm, I hope so. (The reviewer repeats that he only has a thing against Macs, not Apple Safari.)

User Rating: 9/10

safari: fast and security is fine in my opinionby sasstosa - June 8, 2008

Pros: fast............can work really well

Cons: the security isnt as good as it can be.......but its ok

Review: safari is fast and i hav never had any problems with the security, i think it works great, but thats just my opinion

User Rating: 3/10

dont no yet said its betaby romeo1790305 - April 15, 2008

Pros: said its the best

Cons: havent used it just read about it

Review: well i cant really give you a good review of it because i never used it although apple said it was good and some others also said good but was still in beta format so i read alot of forums and message boards on it everything was good and bad apple says its good and safe but the user opion is what means alot what the user expericed whith it and you no microsoft and his beta produts

User Rating: 9/10

Damn Internet Explorerby steve39 - March 26, 2008

Pros: fast, neat, reduces interference with other programs, intuitive

Cons: the size of the letters on the pop down menus is too small

Review: When I switched to Vista last fall, I have vowed to keep my computer simple and clean and avoid, to the degree possible, anything by vendors other than Microsoft.

I have had one main problem with Vista. After a while, every day, some URL will dramatically degrade my computer's performance. I assumed, naïvely that with SP1 the problem would be solved. I have been looking at the same Microsoft screen each time I faced this problem. "Microsoft is trying to find a solution for your problem". It never succeeded.

In a weak moment yesterday, I read about and then downloaded Safari. The boost in speed, everything else aside, has been extraordinary. And this is a fast computer on a fast line.

While the typeface of the menus could be slightly larger, everything other than that makes life clean and fast.

And there was a big unexpected boost. I use Dragon Naturallyspeaking voice dictation system, which because of its complexity is a hog. Who would never have imagined there was some connection between my browser, designed and built and tested by Microsoft, and my voice dictation system. There sure is. The change in voice dictation performance is striking.

Why Microsoft could not have done a better job on Internet Explorer is something I do not understand. That Apple is done a superb job is something that is obvious.

User Rating: 9/10

great awesome download it nowby forrestray - March 23, 2008

Pros: good looking, speed, speed, oh yeah speed

Cons: not as customizable as firefox

Review: it is great for streaming videos , just lookin perdy. :) ,
and general browsing

User Rating: 9/10

WAAAY betterby NewEnglander - March 6, 2008

Pros: Fast and fast

Cons: Bit of a learning curve

Review: I've been a die-hard Firefox user for a couple years. I saw today that Safari was available for Windows. WHY would I want to run an Apple web browser in Windows? Well, I currently have Firefox and Safari running. Firefox is using 57,700+ K. Safari is using 7,900 K. I LOVE Firefox. I'm REALLY LIKING Safari. My old-clunker PC doesn't seem quite so old-clunkish any more.

User Rating: 6/10

Good Web Browser, just not as FAST as described!by sgtbrooks - February 6, 2008

Pros: Pretty GUI, good speed on Leopard OS, not a cluttered interface

Cons: Freezes and locks up using Windows, not the fastest on a Mac

Review: Safari doesn't seem to work well with Windows, had to uninstall it, because it constantly froze. It does however work well with a Mac system. Bottom line, it is a good web browser on a Mac system, but I found Fire Fox to work well with both OS's and it is really fast on my on my MacBook! Type the address, click "enter", you're there!! Safari is good, but it can't compete w/ Firefox.

User Rating: 8/10

Not Perfect but it's definitely better than FireFoxby tayeparden - January 7, 2008

Pros: Better than FireFox

Cons: Not much, closes by itself

Review: I'm not going to say Safari is the perfect browser but it is definitely better than FireFox. I know many people prefer Firefox over IE or Safari but I truely believe that Safari is the best browser out in the market right now. It is much faster than Firefox and I love the options that Safari offers.

There are few things that I'm not so sure about and one is sometimes, Safari just closes by itself for no reason. I guess Firefox is better in this area since they offer to restart from the website that I was on.

Nonetheless, I prefer Safari over both IE and Firefox and I would love to see Apple keep developing Safari.

User Rating: 2/10

"BETA" is not an excuse for all these problemsby link48010 - September 25, 2007

Pros: Fast and simple

Cons: Too simple. Has nothing in tools and is instable

Review: I like most apple software, but this is just plain bad. I would rather use IE 7/6. I get drawing problems, java issues all the time, hopefully this is a beta only thing. It also has nothing as far as extra tools like FireFox. I would love to see someone download a video straight from youtube. Also Safari is not all that much faster unless you have an Uber like connection like 1 MB/s or faster. The program is also more blotted than IE and firefox. it lags my system without mercy. The program also has windows streaming media issues. It also has streaming media problems without iTunes/Quicktime. Nothing seems to work flawlessly with a few add-ons like FF or IE. I've also had the program crash in used just reading things and stuff. I hope that most of these are fixed in the final version, till then I like FF or Lolifox (Firefox based).

User Rating: 5/10

Resource hogby gwz - September 1, 2007

Pros: Just a clean look

Cons: Resource hog; very slow

Review: I don't even dig into facilities this browser may have. In short, it's clean, but that's about it. Slow, resource hog (top speed, Apple? on what?), bad behaviors on multiple monitors. No good for an average user.

User Rating: 8/10

Nice to useby nickcao8 - August 24, 2007

Pros: A breeze to use

Cons: ? Wheres the home button???

Review: Great to use, but I cant find the home button. I like the fact that it shows the loading in the address bar.

User Rating: 9/10

Safari the next browserby seidolce1960 - July 16, 2007

Pros: Fast, Does not Lock Up, Clean

Cons: searching within documents.

Review: First came netscape, then IE, then Firefox, now Safari.

Safari is free and has little features like spell check anything I type (like filling in this box).

The search feature is nice once you get the hang of it. It was a bit confusing at first, but once you see how it works it is a great little feature.

If you use dot mac, like me, all your links between your desktop and laptop are in sync (automatically),

David Longstreet
SoftwareMetrics.Com

User Rating: 9/10

Its GREAT!!! Much Better Than IE And Better Than FFby DrSinn - July 7, 2007

Pros: Auto-Fill,History List,Looks GReat

Cons: No Home Page Button(Icon)

Review: I am inpressed with it Very ..
looks great the only downfall thier is no home page icon/ button like all the other browser..
If this is only an BETA I can`t wait till the full version comes out in Sept/Oct.... And is there going to be a price for it?

User Rating: 2/10

its ugly behind the good looksby umairshuaib - June 29, 2007

Pros: good looks

Cons: crashes, few plug ins, no support for 90% of softwares and bad for eyes

Review: When I first got the windows version of safari browser, I was impressed with the good looks and graphics that apple gave it. But that was short lived,it would only support 3 of the buttons of my 8 buttoned mouse, it kept on crashing every 5 minutes, it wont support my most loved feature, mcafee site advisor, which i had paid hard earned money for, takes ages to download images and the text was awful on eyes to read, and the webpages looked really messy. Also the non existing borders leave no boundary between desktop background and the web pages, making everything looking more messy, I tried to find support for these issues, but no contact information on apple website, instead a discussion forum only, which was no help for about an hour, so i ended up my horrible experience just after 2 hours of downloading this useless browser and went back to my fully functional and fully supported microsoft internet explorer 7. So in my opinion, if you want to just show off your new computer to friends, then this will be a good choice, but for a serious internet user, this will really freak you out and waste your precious time.

User Rating: 8/10

Still beta, but it's getting thereby necrolin - June 29, 2007

Pros: It's fast and features a simple user interface. RSS support is fantastic.

Cons: I'd like to be able to customize it a little more than I can at the moment and some pages render a little funny.

Review: When Safari just came out it was horrible and prone to crash ever 3 minutes, howeber after 2 updates it's stabalized and hasn't crashed once in the past 3 or 4 days. It has a fantastic, one of the best I've used, RSS interface as well. It's stil in beta so Apple is still finishing off this prodect, but already it looks very promising. Overall it's more pleasant to use than IE7 although I still like Firefox a little more.

User Rating: 2/10

The Apple Safari internet broser clames to be the gfastest internet browsrer even do it isntby totesen - June 25, 2007

Pros: Nice Aqua Skin

Cons: Crahes all the time, slower than all other browsers, doesnt work on windows, if you click error reort it crashes

Review: ive tried safari on 3 window computers, 2 on windows xp and one on windows vista The Vista one was extremelly slow and crashed 15 minutes after.
The XP chrashed abour 2 minutes after and it was also incredibly slow even IE6 is faster. its unvelibleable how slow it can be and how apple computer wants to impress telling its the fastest even do its the worst and slowest on windows and mac os x.


A friend that has an imac told me that he would never use safari because its unsafe and slow

User Rating: 5/10

Safari: Apple should be ashamedby Nikurashi - June 20, 2007

Pros: Many people speak of Apple's speed. I haven't noticed it myself.

Cons: Two flaws that disqualify Safari for consideration as a browser: (1) It is prone to crash (2) There are too many websites that it cannot access

Review: It was a sad day when Microsoft decided to stop supporting Internet Explorer for Macs. Internet Explorer has never received good press, quite the contrary, but Safari makes me miss it. If I were given the opportunity to use Internet Explorer again, I would trash Safari in an instant and never look back. And now, Steve Jobs wants to inflict his inferior product on an unknowing Windows audience. Well, it won't take them long to see just how unsatisfactory a browser Safari is. I just hope that the "great awakening" won't affect my Apple stock, because I am looking forward to making quite a killing on it in the near future; in fact, I could sell it right now for ten times what I paid for it, but I'm greedy.

User Rating: 3/10

Not too impressedby sonpit - June 20, 2007

Pros: Larger display. Bookmark bar.

Cons: Very slow. Many problems with java websites. Autohide task bar does not work.

Review: I was excited to try out Apple's new browser, but was quickly dissappointed. 1.) It was very slow. It states that it is actually faster than any other browser. 2.) I had problems getting some of my java websites to work. 3.) Could not find a way to individually allow a pop-up. It seemed to be either on or off. 4.) Windows autohide task bar feature does not work. 5.) Froze up with some java sites.

User Rating: 5/10

good but what about proxyby winkojonathan - June 18, 2007

Pros: why can't standing alone on windows PCs?

Cons: welcome MACdows

Review: yeah!
After i?ve installed, what?s the matter I thought, my fault or may not!
here I found that, that?t NOT ON MINE,THAT?S Sxxxxx?s FAULT!
Never mind I can wait until my PC become ?MACdows? .
But now I suggested that I should un-install it from my PC.
so Sxxxxx and Proxy setting & Bill Gates?that's really interest.
thank you for my first downloaded installation.

User Rating: 1/10

Does it really run?by Shoaib Mulla - June 14, 2007

Pros: none that I can notice.

Cons: doesn't run!

Review: I am using a Windows XP machine which uses ISA to access internet, whenever you type a URL it prompts for proxy authentication and then crashes no matter what you do!

User Rating: 3/10

Big disappointmentby Ed Siteman - June 13, 2007

Pros: Fast; integrated pop-up blocker

Cons: Doesn't work witl delicious; auto-refresh is no quicker than 30 minutes; doesn't work with McAfee SiteAdvisor

Review: I eagerly downloaded this so that I could experience the Apple mystique.

I have to say that I was very disappointed. Yes, it is quick - but in my experience, no quicker than Firefox. Yes, it has a pop-up blocker; I have this with Firefox as well. I can't see any advantages to this product over Firefox.

I couldn't find an easy way to utilize delicious with this browser; I couldn't figure out an easy way to set up auto-refresh quicker than every 30 minutes; I couldn't figure out an easy way to enable McAfee SiteAdvisor in my Google searches. I did some searching for solutions to these problems, and every one I found was overly involved and convoluted.

I don't get why anyone would rave over this product. I'm back on Firefox.

User Rating: 3/10

slow slow slowby jbarenys - June 12, 2007

Pros: nice MAC UI

Cons: very slow web page loading

Review: while they may render a page lightning fast, each page I visited took 3 to 4x longer to load than with Firefox or MSIE. It could be because we are behind a corporate firewall, but I doubt it.

User Rating: 3/10

Needs a lot of workby dbsimple - June 12, 2007

Pros: Cool features, like the look

Cons: Homepage takes too long to load, double types a lot, security not great

Review: I installed
Updated
What I was trying to type in my initial review, which I did from Safari and apparentally did not work, was that I installed it for a day, and it is now uninstalled. I used the program on XP. The first problem I noticed was that the start-up from the homepage was very slow. I tried various webpages, and it was continuously slow to get going. Once it did get going, I did not notice much of a difference in speed from IE. Various webpages including my bank's login page did not work. I would type in my info, and hit the log in, and nothing happened (changed info due to lack of security). The most annoying thing about the Safari program was that when typing, the text would double type ALL THE TIME. Here is an example of what a typed sentence would look like in Safari: TThis iss what I meean by doubble typpe. Very frustrating, as I guess it took my too long to type my review the first time due to correcting so many errors it timed me out. I would not recommend Safari to any XP user as it is very unsecure and there are numerous bugs to work out.

User Rating: 1/10

Didn't run long enough.....by rickd59 - June 11, 2007

Pros: None that I saw

Cons: CRASHES! No drop down for visited sites, How Do You Set Default Home Page?

Review: Went to about 5 sites, and crashed it several times on XP (I visit these sites all the time on Firefox and IE). Tried to add a bookmark; CRASH. Went to another site .... looked ok ... its only a browser. Went to another site; CRASH! Tried both of those activities again on different sites with the same results. I am done with Safari. Maybe when 4.0 comes out with less hype and works I will switch, but Firefox is fine with me.

User Rating: 9/10

Web browsing as it should be!by - July 23, 2004

Pros: Sleek, clean, smart; FAST; Google built-in; pop-up blocker that works; tabs; all the importnat features and more; the list goes on! Shame on IE for not providing a better browser, when they easily could have.

Cons: No major cons that I've found

Review:

User Rating: 5/10

Needs another updateby - November 12, 2003

Pros: Fast loading HTML, easy to use

Cons: Doesn't do well at all with CSS and Flash plays slower than IE

Review:

User Rating: 7/10

Finally proper browsing on a Macby - October 16, 2003

Pros: As someone else points out: this works as well as IE5+ has done on a PC for years. Moreover it appears at first glance to *behave* like IE on a PC - even more so than IE on a Mac, thus web developers should warm to it.

Cons: Dunno - not used it enough. Early versions are bound to be limited compared to old hands such as IE.

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

My favorite browser on Mac and Winby - September 14, 2003

Pros: super fast, integrated Google search better than googlebar in Win, excellent tab implementation.

Cons: no built in ad blocking, must use PithHelmet. No min font size selection, so use Safari Optimizer.

Review:

User Rating: 5/10

Needs more advanced featuresby - July 30, 2003

Pros: Fast.

Cons: Few features. Textured window interface. Toolbar not customizable enough.

Review:

User Rating: 10/10

Someone was talking out their arse when the wrote that reviewby - July 29, 2003

Pros: "Lack of features". right. What does IE have in the way of features? tabs? nope. pop up blocker? nope. speed? nope. google search bar? no again. heres a suggestion, use the product before you review it.

Cons:

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

Try the final...by - July 21, 2003

Pros: Now that it has reached the final 1.0 version, it really has matured. Many of the niggling things have been taken care of. It's a great browser. Best on the Mac.

Cons:

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

It's Great, but.....by - July 12, 2003

Pros: It's fast, very fast. Looks great and works on all the sites that I visit, love the tabbed browsing and the snapback feature as well as the popup blocker.

Cons: I think they should add a feature that let's you save entire webpages with the links, ala IE printing could be more customizable.

Review:

User Rating: 8/10

Simply Elegantby - July 11, 2003

Pros: Google Toolbar on my Mac at last! Clean, simple interface that has what I need and omits what I don't. Rock solid stability and compatability so far.

Cons:

Review:

User Rating: 1/10

not ready for primetimeby - July 9, 2003

Pros: fast

Cons: unstable; not for banking; stripped down version of KDE Konqueror; lousy CSS and Flash; good only for people who either browse bunch of text files or who want to have an Apple branded browser no matter what.

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

Can't go backby - July 5, 2003

Pros: After using tabs I can't go back. It's also more developer friendly than IE- When you click "Empty Cache" (which is convieniently in the App menu) it actually empties the cache, not like IE where you have to quit and re-open.

Cons:

Review:

User Rating: 8/10

My #1 browser for some month !by - July 5, 2003

Pros: Speed, clear interface, integration with .Mac, tab and bookmarks ease of use

Cons: some secured sites (banks) or java heavy sites are still not rendered properly. I must keep IE on my TIBook

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

the comming Nr. 1 browser!!!by - July 5, 2003

Pros: stylish interface, integrated Google, Tab´s, Go-Back feature, Bug-button to send instantly problems to the developers

Cons: doesn´t work with all sides yet - but it´s only a matter of time...

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

Highly secure, fast, easy to use browserby - July 5, 2003

Pros: Highly secure. Select Safari->Reset Safari... to remove all traces of usernames/password/cache/hist ory so no one can see what you've done. Renders sites better than IE 6 for Windows as it complies better with W3 standards. Has a home button, and a

Cons: IE specific websites don't render perfectly, but often better than Mozilla (even 1.4). Strict adherence to standards occasionally ends in unexpected results but as a web developer this is definately my fault :-(

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

Best Modern Browserby - July 4, 2003

Pros: Well IE is really aging and Microsoft is doing nothing to help us surf the ever more complex Internet. Safari is super fast, pop-up blocking is a killer feature, Apple's support and responsive is incredible, they key programmer has an active blog. It ca

Cons: Like to see Apple add the ability to selectively turn blocking on and off per domain. (ore of a feature request)

Review:

User Rating: 10/10

Superior to IE in every wayby - July 4, 2003

Pros: This browser is fast and beautiful. It loads all pages correctly. In short, whatever IE does apple's Safari does faster and with more style. It's really amazing just how much better Apple does everything than Windows. It makes you wonder why Windows alway

Cons: This is a still in beta testing. I can't wait to see what the final result will be!

Review:

User Rating: 10/10

Safari has never failed for meby - July 4, 2003

Pros: First of all, note that almost all of these reviews (and all of the negative reviews) are of the Safari Betas. CNET really should have done a different review for Safari 1.0, instead of just updating the review. Nearly all of the reported Safari problems

Cons:

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

Simply a great browserby - July 3, 2003

Pros: The first beta version definitely had some quirks (pages not always loaded correctly, security issues), but the final release is beautiful -- it's extremely fast, has great tabbing features, and is very customizable. And, unlike IE or Netscape for the PC

Cons: Can't find any now!

Review:

User Rating: 9/10

quick and solid: why complain?by - July 2, 2003

Pros: I haven't run into the compatibility problems others have. Very stable--no crashes yet. I don't really use all those features anyway, and so I haven't noticed their absence. It feels good not to owe MS anything too. This is good software--solid, nicely de

Cons:

Review:

User Rating: 10/10

it ROCKS!by - June 29, 2003

Pros: Best browser I've ever used and it automatically communicates with my Address Book for quick, accurate use of redundant information. I LOVE IT!!

Cons: The only con is that more people aren't using it...

Review:

User Rating: 10/10

We got ourselves a winner!by - June 18, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Safari is by far the best browser on the mac. Just as Internet explorer performs well on Windows so does Safari on the mac. I recommend it to anyone who have not had the chance to try it yet- get beta 2!

User Rating: 9/10

Uncluttered and fastby - April 28, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I particularly like the typical nice simple user interface. It's uncluttered and fast - much nicer to look at than the cumbersome IE toolbars.

User Rating: 8/10

I switched and am glad I did!by - April 26, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Great product! Hands down better than IE. Apple cares enough to release the Beta and actually take input, unlike Microshaft has done on their public beta releases. As a FORMER PC user it does my heart good to see how Apple really cares about making a quality product.

User Rating: 8/10

Incredibly fast, but not IEby - April 26, 2003

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Cons:

Review: I love this web browser. The way it manages your favorites is simply amazing.

User Rating: 10/10

Only a beta and still best!by - April 25, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: awsome, its obvious that apple has declared war on microsoft first keynote and now this they just simply do everything right microsost doesnt stand a chance!

User Rating: 8/10

CNET's review is flawedby - April 21, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Uh... you can switch between browser tabs using Shift-Command-Left and Shift-Command-Right. The CNET reviewer should have done some actual research before writing this as a CON. In fact, that very same shortcut is right there in the Window menu in Safari. The reviewer also incorrectly states that the Autofill feature integrates with the Addrress book and not the Keychain password manager. It in fact DOES integrate with the keychain password manager, much the same way Chimera does. I know this for a fact because it is currently handling all my internet passwords. Please, CNET... write more informed reviews in the future. Safari is not completely lacking like you paint it to be.

User Rating: 8/10

Great browser with minor compatibility issues...by - April 21, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: First, pointing out an error in the CNet review...there *is* a keyboard command for switching tabs, its even listed in the window menu. Shift-Command(apple)-left and Shift-Command-right switch tabs. It has all the features I need, a great bookmark system (the first browser Ive used bookmarks, because usually I find them too clumsy), secure password autofill, and a small on-screen footprint. The only problem I have is that it seems to eat resources after several hours of use. Otherwise, great browser on the part of Apple, best on the platform. On a final note, ignore all the trolling PC Users who have never even touched a Mac, no less this browser.

User Rating: 6/10

Good browser, could be great by the final release!by - April 18, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: This is a good browser for a beta. Sure it doesn't have every feature of IE or Netscape, et al, but it's a beta. Apple keeps adding as they go making this a better browser over time. When this becomes an official release, it should be a great browser. Hey, it's free too!

User Rating: 8/10

getting thereby - April 18, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Safari has some trouble with a few sites still, but it's easier to use and faster than IE

User Rating: 9/10

Awesome browser!by - April 18, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I downloaded the first public beta version and I kept IE in my toolbar in case there were pages that wouldn't display properly in Safari. There were a few that I use frequently that didn't, but I reported the bugs via the Safari interface and this latest version addressed all the issues I had with the first Safari public beta. This is a delightful browser to use because it's simple, elegant, and functional. That's what Apple is all about. Congrats to the development team for this product. Can't wait to see what you do for the final release!

User Rating: 7/10

All the Features You Need, But Still Bugs Existby - April 18, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Safari is a great browser for Mac OS X. Despite what the CNET review says, Safari has the features people want and use - primarily pop up blocking and tabbed browsing. IE for the Mac had neither. The program is easy to use, although in Beta 2 tabbed browsing is turned off by default. With such a sleek implementation, it should be turned on. Speed is quicker then the other browsers I have used on my iBook, but the program does crash and some pages act/display strangely. I fully reccomend using this browser, but occassionally you will need another when Safari cannot render a website or form correctly.

User Rating: 8/10

Good job Apple. You RULE!by - April 17, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: This browser is the best for mac. Download the update and you will get tab options. It looks cool and it is very stable. So mamy features I can't tell you them all. You might want to put Safari into consideration before using IE. The built in Google is cool. I found that it works good on G3s too. The bookmarking is so cool and easy. Get Safari now and you will be happier than ever. Remember to download it if you have Mac OS 10.2.4. (Internet Expolrer is good for 9.0 and 9.2.)

User Rating: 7/10

Super-fast & streamlined coolnessby - March 31, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: like the title says, its very streamlined, and simple to use. i havent had too many issues however. only 3 come to mind,; * fast moving applets will cause weirdness *the favorites page is bulky..just by removing the entire page and give yoy nice dropdowns..i just wish it wasnt so...big * NO javascript support (moderate no no here) its fast. it's simple. its good.

User Rating: 8/10

Fabulous. I wouldn't go back to Explorerby - February 20, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I do miss the forms autofill and hope Apple will supply it soon.

User Rating: 7/10

Oh my god,what has apple done!?by - February 20, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: I'll tell you what apple has done,only created the prototype for the best browser EVER!This is getting rediculous,i mean,first they go and make the most user friendly system on the market,(and not to mention best looking,)now they think they can push this awesomely quik browser on us,give it a rest apple,no one wants all that,people are perfectly happy waiting,and waiting,and waiting,for there sites to load,and they love having there computers crash 25 times a day,why do you think they keep buying pc's,(other than having been brainwashed by the militant"i hate mac crowd").On an honest note,the BETA,and thats what it is,a beta version,is only a prototype,and it still beats the pants of of any other browser.Its really gonna be scary when they release the update.And for all of you "PC PUPPETS"out there,next time your comp crashes,or you loose all your files,or better yet,while your waiting for a site to load,us mac users will be thinking about you(and laughing our heads off)

User Rating: 6/10

Preferencesby - February 18, 2003

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Cons:

Review: i would like to have a preference for "History" History : Yes History : No History : cancelled when closing Safari

User Rating: 9/10

Fast, better than beta qualityby - February 14, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: It has all the features that i need, its really fast, even on my 400mHz G4, and it's one less service that im dependant on M$ for.

User Rating: 1/10

Uses page caching for speedby - February 12, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Safari uses page caching which enables it to go faster. It's just a way to move farther for Microsoft by using a linux clone.

User Rating: 8/10

Another Coup for Appleby - February 12, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Although not perfect yet, this browser is clearly the smoothest running, easiest to use and most pleasant on the eyes of any brower I've used in my 10 years of surfing the net. Way to go Steve.

User Rating: 6/10

frankly underwhelmedby - February 8, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Expecting "blazing speed" but not as good as IE6, working with a cable. Had problems getting into college servers with errors indicating complications with internal firewalls. When checking the set up, these were off. Printing was also not spontaneous, but required 2 steps. No problems with IE6 on the same G$ working with Jaguar.

User Rating: 8/10

Wow...and this is only the beta!by - February 7, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Finally, a fast browser for the Mac. And plugins such as RealPlayer and Windows Media Player actually work. I like the easy bug reporting system and the simplified toolbar. I miss autofill forms and advanced security options.

User Rating: 6/10

YOU'LL BE SORRYby - February 7, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: SAFARI takes over as your default browser irrespective of whether you want it to. And just wait till you try to uninstall it!

User Rating: 4/10

doesn't work with key sitesby - February 6, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: i can't log in to my brokerage account with this browser and have had problems at other sites that require passwords (reservations, credit cards, etc.) i had hoped it would work well, but unfortunately, it's not right for me.

User Rating: 8/10

For browsing only, best thing out there!by - February 6, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Needs more customization features, and better media handlers.

User Rating: 8/10

Very clean, fast, cool features.by - February 6, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: It's still a toss up beween Navigator and Safari. I think Navigator is still faster in some instances. However, I venture to say that when Apple has declared this App a GM, it'll be the best browser for Mac OS X.

User Rating: 6/10

This beta is better than most finals!!by - February 6, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: True, it's a beta and still has bugs, and doesn't have much features. But, this beta release is for Apple to test the browser out in the field with Mac users, to work out compatibility issues before they release the final that will have all the features everyone is so upset it doesn't have. They only released this to get bug reports, and fix them. That's why there is that convenient bug button to report the bug, supply the source of the page and screen sot if its appearance related. The best beta release I've ever seen on any platform because this is what a public beta should be!! Easy bug report for the best final product possible! The final is gonna blow away all of those who posted negatively on this site.

User Rating: 10/10

Another reason to switch!by - February 6, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Apple has created a first rate product in Safari. To fully appreciate how elegant and, more importantly, how fast this browser is, it has to be experienced. Webpages load incredibly quickly, the way you would expect a 21st century browser to load pages. Webpages are rendered very crisply and, as with all things Apple, look spectacular. It is exactly the type of browser that is missing in the browser market. It is efficiently designed, fast, and very stable, considering that it is a beta. I've used PC's of all varieties for a long time and I am very pleased in the direction that Apple has been heading in recent years. They have created in OSX a top of the line OS that makes XP look prehistoric and are filling OSX with quality apps that are focused and functional. You would think that Microsoft would have tweaked IE to the point of optimum performance by now, but Safari exposes how over bloated Internet Explorer is with underutilized and unnecessary features. Safari makes IE look absolutely sluggish and primitive.

User Rating: 10/10

Simple and Faaaaast!!!!!by - February 6, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Safari rocks! I just hope Apple doesn't fall into the bloat code trap and try to make it everything and the kitchen sink. Safari does exactly what it was designed to do. Browse web pages. And it does it very well.

User Rating: 8/10

Stable & Mostly Compatibleby - February 6, 2003

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Cons:

Review: I use Windows 2000, Windows .NET Server Beta, Windows XP and OS X. In the past, the Windows platform was faster than Mac when browsing, but that's changed with the advent of Chimera and Safari. Safari is more stable than Chimera and mostly more compatible with sites than Chimera or even IE-Mac. The funny thing is, Safari works better on Microsoft owned Hotmail than IE Windows, and is the only browser that works quickly and cleanly with a proprietary SQL DB that my company uses. I'd like to see more options in how to display bookmarks and I'd like to see passwords stored in the Keychain system (like Chimera). Also, I would like to be able to scroll through pull-down lists with my scroll wheel, or going down the list by pressing the first letter of the word in the list. All in all, for a Beta....very impressive!

User Rating: 9/10

Will Never Use Another Browserby - February 6, 2003

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Cons:

Review: wow... yes, it's lacking some features that would be nice (like autofill), but other than that...it's perfect. they've paid very close attention to detail. not only do you see the image when you drag it to save, but if it's a GIF with transparency it shows it while you drag! that's just a minor detail... but using the browser is incredible...uses all of the Aqua UI...so fast, awesome text rendering. can't beat it! can't believe the editors gave it a seven. :(

User Rating: 8/10

Safari good but could use more featuresby - February 6, 2003

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Cons:

Review: I started out using Internet Explorer on my mac then I slowly transitioned over to Mozilla. Then I found Chimera(based on Mozilla's gecko rendering engine) and have since made it my primary browser. While Mozilla is now 3rd & IE 4th (whenever I encounter a IE Only site) Safari is a really good browser - it's stable & fast. While I dont see a huge difference between Safari & Chimera in speed I do in features. Safari while good lacks some features that Chimera & Mozilla have. When Safari gets these I may use it more.

User Rating: 6/10

Uncluttered and promising.by - February 6, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Add just a few more features, such as 'Auto-complete' and 'Auto-fill' and this browser will meet 95% of the needs of 95% of all web users. Internet Explorer still packs the best punch, and Netscape 7 is right up there, as well, but they're more cluttered interface and in-depth preferences are both a boon and a bane: novices simply don't know what to do with all those options. If users need or want simple, Safari provides it.

User Rating: 8/10

Everything that Apple advertised!by - February 6, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Would love to see tabs implemented in the final release, but I'm happy to have it as my default browser for now.

User Rating: 5/10

Wait for the real thing.by - February 5, 2003

Pros:

Cons:

Review: Used it for about a week and my computer did a major crash. I had to reinstall OSX and lost a lot of files.

User Rating: 9/10

Good Startby - February 5, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Well all I can say is I hope Apple doesn't load it down with "features" like IE. Just fix the bugs and maybe tabs. Keep it lean. Chimera is my default browser for now.

User Rating: 8/10

Simple and well constructed.by - February 5, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Apple has crafted a very good browser. As far as CNET's mentioning of a lack of autofill and password tracker, I think of the absense of these "features" as a plus, particularly with the continued problems of SQL. Overall Safari is a speedy, easy to use browser. The only feature I personally find "missing" is tabbed browsing, something that was introduced in the latest revision of the opensource *nix version just released-and this should find its way to safari soon.

User Rating: 7/10

Hunting for the Big Guns?by - February 5, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Safari Beta is a great attempt to take down the bulkiness of web browsers on the OS X platform in a beta application. Even though I generally dislike the brushed metal look of Apple's new line of applications, it leaves lots of real estate for the web pages on your screen instead of drawers, menu bars and sliding panels. Tabbed Browsing would be a great addition, but not at the expense of view-ability. Although a few java/javascript and rendering issues have cropped up, it is generally solid for a beta release (It fails significantly less often than Chimera or Internet Explorer do) and renders quickly. There are fewer security features than a full browser but unless you are making repeated purchases online this should suffice, and one would expect apple to correct this issue in later release(s). At this point, I am happy that Safari makes itself the main browser automatically, it saved me the hassles of doing it myself. - Alpha MacGeek

User Rating: 7/10

Promising...by - February 3, 2003

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Cons:

Review: but not quite there yet. I haven't really had any incompatibilities yet. Safari is fast, but, as the CNET testers found as well, not always. Still, it's much faster than IE. I like the bookmark management though. Why would you want a smaller window. The big window makes it much more comfortable to organise. However, Safari lacks two crucial (for me) features: Advanced security (password management etc.). Tabbed browsing. For now, stick with Chimera. IE, doesn't offer anything in comparison.

User Rating: 8/10

Big Game Hunters Unite!by - February 3, 2003

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Cons:

Review: As a regular-joe computer user (and not a computer geek), I've found that I rarely use any of the myriad extras, bells and whistles that IE and Netscape lard their browsers with. Maybe that's why Safari is so blazin' fast. I'd rather get the page I'm looking for up and running than play with an infinite # of settings. And the pop-up blocker works great too, I've almost forgotten what pop-up ads look like... I just love the elegant interface too, so aesthetically pleasing and intuitive (like everything Mac -- something PC users just don't and never will get). My only lament is some stability issues. I guess I've been spoiled by OS X's rock-solidness that I've also forgotten what crashes are like. Still, I've only had 3 in the past month (never before, in 6 mos. of using OS X), and that's on a beta product! Can't wait for the full release...

User Rating: 8/10

Fast and easy browserby - February 3, 2003

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Cons:

Review: More stable than IE, much less cumbesome than Netscape. It isn't as feature rich, elegant or polished as some others. This will not dispace Chimera or OmniWeb from my computer, but, for a quick web page look-up, it is just the ticket. The only glitches so far have been on a couple of purchases; some shopping cart systems just can't live without MS Internet Explorer. I do not miss the autofill or tabs. Multimedia plug-ins work great and I haven't see many Java glitchs. I wish that some of the software that I've had to purchase worked this well.

User Rating: 10/10

Nice very niceby - February 3, 2003

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Review: Impressive for a beta. I do already miss the tabs and auto fill I admit. It is my new default browser. Though Chimera is still standing by in my dock.

User Rating: 8/10

Fast,free,not MSby - February 3, 2003

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Review: Yeah well all those features it doesn't have, I never used anyway. Also it does not set itself as the default browser. I am pretty much a one site at a time guy so I'm not complaining about no tabbed browsing. Really if you don't like this product, your standards are too high. Already better than Internet Explorer.

User Rating: 9/10

All it says it is.by - February 3, 2003

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Review: I trashed IE after 5 minutes of using Safari. They have made improvements to the original beta. It has never crashed and the bookmark is very easy to use. If this is like iPhoto or iMovie then Apple will make it well worth your while which it is right now.

User Rating: 9/10

W O W !by - February 3, 2003

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Review: An unbelievable beta...incredibly fast. Sure, it needs some tweaks, but it's a beta and it's easy to report any problems. It's never crashed and 99% of pages visited operated great!

User Rating: 8/10

If you love apple, you'll love safari!!by - February 3, 2003

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Review: If you want the fastest browser around, You'll use safari. Many of the people putting negative complaints have either never used a Mac or have not given this BETA a chance. Yes, there are bugs, BUT THAT IS WHY THEY HAVE THE BUG REPORTING FEATURE!!!

User Rating: 10/10

Faster, Smarter, Betterby - February 3, 2003

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Review: The speed factor is stunning. Switching from Internet Explorer to Safari is a jaw-dropping experience. Everything about it is superior to IE. Cnet was unhappy with absence of some more advanced featues, but I don't miss it. It's a browser, not a sportscar. Apple got it right. it does one thing perfectly: display webpages. Inside of spending ten minutes trying to beg and plead Internet Explorer to please load a page, Safari just does it.

User Rating: 8/10

Excellent browser for OSXby - February 3, 2003

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Review: Outstanding first effort from Apple. I've used it as my everday browser since it came out and have had no problems with the sites I usually visit. Great product and it's free!

User Rating: 9/10

Great Quick Browserby - February 2, 2003

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Review: If you just want a web browser, and not a full product suite (Communicator) and you want it fast (unlike IE Mac) this is worth your time to install. I've had 1 crash in the entire time I've run it, and its much faster than anything else on Mac.

User Rating: 8/10

Quick, slick and cleanby - February 2, 2003

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Review: Great! Seems much faster than IE 5.22, and its simplicity and elegance is refreshing. The google search bar comes in use dozens times per session. As most people mention, the only real negative is the difficulty in using personal CA certificates etc

User Rating: 6/10

Loser..by - February 2, 2003

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Review: PC 4 Life.. Guess what, every operating system crashes at some time. Since you're obviously a moron I won't even comment on software issues. Next time be a big boy and buy a Power Mac G4 instead of what you purchased, a low model IMac. Now go back to your PC and open your next virus.. Lamer..

User Rating: 8/10

In the next three years, APPLE is going to turn the PC WORLD upside down.by - February 1, 2003

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Review: APPLE does it again: Safari 1.0 Beta, just another piece of the puzzle. "PC PEOPLE" go use/try a new apple computer running OS X "JAGUAR"; then, you decide where the best computer experience is coming from. APPLE HAS ARRIVED--come join the fun

User Rating: 2/10

NICE TRY..... BUT KEEP TRYING STEVE JOBS!by - February 1, 2003

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Review: Don't get me wrong here about this new browser, it looks good and is pretty fast, but it's not exactly what I would want. There is no autofill and I hear it's not very compatible. Well i never liked MAC I can't stand the look or the software of these horrific machines. And if people tell you they don't crash, say to them "Keep telling yourself those lies" I've used a MAC and it kept crashing because it Sucked. I will always be a PC person. 1 thing that made me laugh was that somebody said MAC has a lot of software. MAC and software are 2 very incompatible words. The 2 most popular programs are Iphoto and Imovie. Tell me tough who would do that all day, PC's have much better and more compatible software than MAC can even dream about. Nothing goes with a MAC because people realize they are trashy at best. Well getting back to the point Safari is ok at best but IE or Chimera or dare i say NS can take it down. Nice try Steve Jobs, keep trying!!!!

User Rating: 4/10

good but still betaby - February 1, 2003

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Review: really nice interface, and excellent speed, but not ready for prime time: hung or didn't work on many WEB pages

User Rating: 8/10

Safari is the best browser available for OS X.by - February 1, 2003

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Review: Safari is very fast, easy and elegant. It's truly the best browser available for OS X, even in its beta. I'm excited to see the final release. I have minimal amounts of rendering issues that will hopefully be resolved in the final release (I've reported them using the Report Bug function built in to Safari). I have deleted all other browsers from my system and use nothing else. (I can't tell you how satisfying it is to be completely devoid of Microsoft on my Mac :) ) My only major wish is that it were called iSurf. Just kidding. This browser comes highly recommended by me.

User Rating: 7/10

the browswer greatly improves on ie5.2's speed although it can sometimes be inconsistent,dowload nowby - February 1, 2003

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Review: the browser is still in its beta stages so dont be gettting rid of internet explorer yet. a great browser overall although lackking in some funtionality departments.

User Rating: 6/10

Chimera Still The Bestby - February 1, 2003

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Review: A very good and speedy browser. However, it still is very much a beta. What surprised me was reading the comments and noticing how many users are still using Internet Explorer. Chimera is stimply the best browser for Mac OS X right now. With a little more work this browser will be ready for prime time.

User Rating: 9/10

the best out there -and it's a beta!by - January 31, 2003

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Review: it is exactly what it states, a lean (quick 3mb download) stable (been using it since day one-never crashes) and get this, it actually renders pages quickly AND correctly. I downloaded safari the first day it was made available, and haven't used another browser since. It even has a clutter-free attractive interface without spinning, glowing, or otherwise annoying graphics.

User Rating: 8/10

Blazing fast, will supplant all othersby - January 30, 2003

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Review: CNET's review of Safari is surprisingly negative for such an impressive *beta.* Safari renders FAST. Much, much faster than any other browser if you ask me. Some folks think Chimera is comparable, but subjectively I don't think this is true. The interface has great innovations--merging the URL window with the progress bar, the Snap-Back feature, the integrated Google search window. With a few interface enhancements, the full version will be spectacular. True, Safari is a beta and has some security, java, and stability issues--and could well use some autocomplete features. But, frankly, it's my preferred browser now, even though it's in beta. I use IE or Chimera only when I have to now--I just *love* Safari. Brava Apple! Look out Microsoft et al.!

User Rating: 8/10

Excellent for a Betaby - January 30, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Fast as hell. It blew IE 5.x out of the water on my G4 400. Not as feature-rich as Chimera (Where's the tabbed browsing? Coming soon, I hope) but faster. Needs an Autofill feature of some kind. If Apple can only make a replacement for Office (one that correctly opens Word Docs - I wish Appleworks would), my computer would be Micro$oft free!! I feel bad for the good folks who made Chimera - also an excellent browser - as I've heard rumors they might understandably stop development now.

User Rating: 5/10

maybe next time...by - January 30, 2003

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Review: chimera is better in every category except the integrated google bar. tabbed browsing is a must! it's not as fast as apple says...and i hate that the bookmarks page cannot be seen in a side slide like in chimera...much more work to do, apple!

User Rating: 9/10

Outstanding Browser For 95% Of Surfingby - January 30, 2003

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Cons:

Review: This BETA release of Safari is amazing both in its simplicity and speed. I have found a few glitches, mostly Java related. I still use IE to post items for sale on EBay and check my Hotmail account. I'm sure all of these problems will be worked out in the final release. Oh yeah, there is one major annoyance I've faced. Several websites have recognized it as Netscape, and I hate the idea that anyone would think I'd be using that lousy product.

User Rating: 7/10

Finally, a decent browser!by - January 30, 2003

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Review: Safari is awesome - I love it! However, if you don't know a USB port from a PS/2 connection, then this browser isn't for you. BUT if you have a fair amount of experiance with computers, this should be no problem. There are many different options to play with also. This being only a beta version - Bravo apple, Bravo.

User Rating: 8/10

This web browser rocks!!!!!by - January 30, 2003

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Review: Get this browser!!!!! It has good stability, it is super fast, and really easy to use!!!!

User Rating: 8/10

Fast, easy, my #1 Browser now!by - January 30, 2003

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Review: This is beta software. So don't expect the world. That said, I was blown away by the stability and compatibility of the Safari Beta. It's now my favorite browser on my iBook. And it isn't even finished! Want to dispell some myths too. There is a home button, and also a status bar. (Someone said it just fell off at the bottom.) Both are under the View menu. I do kind of miss the autofill/autocomplete, but that feature really is a security risk, especially if you share your computer. That's not uncommon with an iBook. Everyone wants to try it out. Only Google is integrated in the toolbar, and it would be nice to configure that to other services. I really only use Google anymore, so NBD for me. Download it and check it out for yourself. You will not regret it.

User Rating: 8/10

Nice, but still a betaby - January 30, 2003

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Review: While Safari is a nice browser, with most of the (very few) features I need, it will take proper keychain integration to make me give up Chimera. And I really wish I didn't have to use a hack just to get rid of that metallic look.

User Rating: 9/10

Can't wait for the finished version!by - January 30, 2003

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Cons:

Review: This browser is VERY fast and a piece of cake to use. You CAN add a HOME button to the toolbar. So far I've only needed Chimera for 1 site (because the video at that site downloads to the desktop instead of the cache), everything else is done on Safari. Actually, pretty amazing since I really LOVED my Chimera browser. Who needs all the extra bloat in a browser? Apple incorporates that stuff better into it's other software (Sherlock, Mail, Address Book, etc.) anyway.

User Rating: 8/10

Safari is king (well almost)!by - January 30, 2003

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Review: Well I have to say that this is what the Mac has needed for a longtime... IE is slow and bloated on the Mac platform and had some compatibility issues with various websites (Safari also has issues in this space)! As far as performance goes, Safari blows IE out of the water and I can imagine that Safair will surpass IE in features and elegance as time goes by! Kudos to Apple, KDE and their development teams!

User Rating: 6/10

Good for viewing web pages but not much elseby - January 30, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Once again Apple offers a less than satisfactory application. While Safari displays web pages very quickly you can't do much else with it, such as sell items at eBay or purchase items online.

User Rating: 8/10

Finally something better than Explorer or Netscape!by - January 30, 2003

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Review: I had such high hopes for an Apple made web browser and they sure didn't let me down! I have been happily surfing with Safari for the last few weeks and it's pure heaven! Who could have thought that someone would it hit so close to a winner on the first release!

User Rating: 8/10

Can't wait to see the release version!by - January 30, 2003

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Cons:

Review: This beta is very ready for prime time! I've been using Safari since it was available for download and I love it. I don't know what the hell kind of pages other people are going to, but it's never had a problem with the pages I visit. The browser is fast, responsive, and yes, it does have a homepage button. The browser is clean, simple, fast and maximizes viewing space. That's more important to me than endless options and customizations.

User Rating: 9/10

Wow, not bad Apple, not bad at allby - January 30, 2003

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Review: First let me address the comment below, there IS a home button, you just have to turn it on under View. Safari is MUCH faster than IE, and a lot easier. I love the bookmark filing system, I love the integrated Google, and I LOVE having a fun surfing experience without using one single Microsoft product!!! This is a beta, and still has some glitches, but I trust Apple will work those out before the official release. There is even a "report bug" link built in to the browser, if you have a problem at a page you can instantly send that info to Apple developers so it will be addressed. This is why Apple coins the phrase "Think Different," because they truly do. Kudos to Apple, for releasing fresh and innovative software and hardware. I switched 5 months ago and couldn't be happier.

User Rating: 8/10

IE just got Poached!by - January 30, 2003

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Review: After months of waiting for an Apple-branded browser, Safari has definitely stepped up to the plate! IE for Mac seems oh so 19th century!

User Rating: 1/10

Great Betaby - January 30, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Great beta, really fast, needs some help in features are but does the job, might want to do some R/D on frames and Java...

User Rating: 9/10

1 MILLION D/Lby - January 29, 2003

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Review: Safari has been downloaded over 1 million times. This is a great browser. I use it 90% of the time and chimera 10% of the time now. On OS X nothing else compares. To say that IE is even competitive means that you don't use OS X.

User Rating: 5/10

Not Ready for Prime Time Yet (Sorry Apple)by - January 29, 2003

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Cons:

Review: I love Apple and I enjoy their new products and software, but I tried Safari for a while and whenever it stopped working properly, I was forced to switch to IE. Not being a fan of IE, I really wanted Safari to work, but Safari doesn't load many page correctly and you can't reload pages many times - well, let's just say it's glitchy. Plus, there's no HOME button; something I love! While I love the integrated Google bar, the Snapback feature, and the bookmark bar (which IE also has) and the speed of Safari is great, I am going to wait until Apple releases a non-beta version. Once they do, I will try Safari again and if some things are fixed and glitches are gone, I'll use it prime time. I really don't feel like doing "bug-finding" work for Apple during web surfing, but that's my opinion. A great web browser that's super fast - but it needs much more work. - An Apple lover.

User Rating: 8/10

A great & simple browserby - January 29, 2003

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Review: Apple has consistantly developed products that are easy to use and self-explanitory. Safari is one of those products, with the simple navigation and speed, it's one of the best browsers around. CNET's review goes over all that jazz about missing features compared to the other browsers - we all know most people don't use most features. The only real feature missing is autofill. RichTestani http://www.apple-sauce.com

User Rating: 3/10

Another Overhyped Apple Productby - January 29, 2003

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Cons:

Review: Let's face it. If Apple products were that good, they would be more popular than they are. This beta is buggy and unstable and lacks the features of a truly robust online browser. Stick with Mozilla.

User Rating: 10/10

Move over IE, Apple Safari is here!by - January 29, 2003

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Review: This is a great beta web browser. Once Apple fixes few bugs, it's going to be the BEST ever!

User Rating: 8/10

This is a beta??? Wow!by - January 29, 2003

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Cons:

Review: I've been pretty much disgusted with all browsers for OS X. Some have good features but are painful to use. Others are quick but have a pretty bad feature set. I've been using Safari as my primary browser since it was released to the public. Simply amazing! Sure, it has its blemishes and can use some features, but it is fast, rock-solid stable and a joy to use. Knowing how Apple listens to its userbase, I can't wait to see Safari when it hits final release.

User Rating: 8/10

Excellent product so farby - January 29, 2003

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Review: I thought Mozilla blew IE for Mac away...then I discover that Safari blows Mozilla away. This product is outstanding for a beta; I can't wait to try the finalized version. Safari has already replaced Mozilla as my default browser, although I do find myself having to launch Mozilla (or even IE) on occasion for certain compatibility issues.

User Rating: 8/10

Great Beta!by - January 29, 2003

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Review: As a beta product this is outstanding. It lacks a few features such as tabbed browsing, autofill and keychain support and there are a few rendering bugs. If these are fixed for the final release this will be the only browser on my Mac.

User Rating: 6/10

Nice design, but lacks compatibilityby - January 29, 2003

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Cons:

Review: It's nicely desigend and works well for a beta. But I found serious shortcommings with regards to handling of javascript and frames. On pages heavy on frames and javascript I found Safari to behave in a non standard way, i.e. menus not loading correctly, JavaScript commands not executing at all. If you're after full compatibility stick with IE (for now).

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About CNET Archive BETA

Welcome to the CNET Archive, a library of product reviews, user opinions, videos, specifications, and manufacturer descriptions for products no longer offered by the manufacturer or most retailers. Here you will find information on replacement parts and replacement ink cartridges. Read what others had to say about that used laptop you are considering buying. Take a trip down memory lane as you browse and reminisce about your favorite old video game or that first digital camera.

Apple Safari specifications

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  • Subcategory Internet - browser / suite
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